ECHA appeals board upholds Honeywell request on animal testing

29 April 2013 12:37[Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS)--The board of appeal for the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) on Monday made its first final verdict on an appeal of a ECHA decision, upholding a case by a subsidiary of US-based Honeywell related to animal testing.

Honeywell Belgium NV had submitted an appeal on 21 June 2011 seeking to overturn an ECHA decision requiring it to conduct a 90-day repeated dose toxicity study in rabbits, by inhalation. The study was to be carried out towards the registration of 2,3,3,3-tetrafluoropropene, a refrigerant, to be used by the company in quantities of 1,000 tonnes or above per year.

The board annulled the decision, on the grounds that the ECHA’s decision breached its own regulations, stating that testing on vertebrate animals should only be undertaken as a last resort. The case is to be remitted back to the agency for re-examination.

Honeywell’s request that its appeal fee be refunded will also be met, the board said.

“The board of appeal found that ECHA’s decision was disproportionate as the appropriateness of, and necessity for, the requested study had not been demonstrated,” the board added in a statement.DuPont de Nemours (Nederland) BV and the European Coalition to End Animal Experiments (ECEAE) acted as interveners, submitting supporting documentation to the appeal.